IBM said Thursday that it reached a deal to acquire FilesX, an Israeli developer of software that controls digital storage systems and protects corporate data.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. IBM said in a statement that it expects to close the deal "shortly."

FilesX's Xpress Restore software backs up critical business data and makes it readily available when needed, according to IBM. The company's customers include Amherst College, CenterStone Software, and South Nassau Communities Hospital.

All told, FilesX has more than 100 customers in the United States and Israel, IBM said. IBM said it plans to add FilesX's technology to its Tivoli Storage Manager line of products.

"The FilesX acquisition would complement IBM's vision of enterprise data protection by adding critical capabilities for remote offices, delivering continuous data protection for applications and servers, and supporting business users needs with nearly instantaneous recovery of data," said Al Zollar, general manager for Tivoli software at IBM, in a statement.

IBM is battling Hewlett-Packard and EMC for control of the storage systems market. On Wednesday, EMC said it had reached a deal to acquire disk drive manufacturer Iomega for $213 million.

The FilesX deal marks IBM's fourth announced acquisition in 2008.

Earlier this year, the company disclosed its purchase of XIV, a Tel Aviv-based manufacturer of high-performance digital storage systems. It has also announced buyouts of Net Integration Technologies and AptSoft.

IBM in 2007 announced nine acquisitions -- including a $5 billion deal to acquire Cognos, a Canadian developer of business intelligence software.

IBM shares were up 1.52% to $118.48 in late-afternoon trading Thursday.